Sunday, March 11, 2007

5 Things You Should Check Out

I've spent so much time in the last couple of months blogging about what makes me miserable. So here is a list of things that have made me very happy this week:

Mental_Floss I cannot get over this magazine. I'm on my 3rd issue and I keep wandering around the house saying to Thomas, "Did you know that quarantine literally means 40 days?" "Did you know that Patton was in the Olympics?" "Did you know that Japanese tourists get so depressed when Paris isn't all they'd hoped that their embassy provides counselling services?"

Fortean Times If you like Mental_Floss, you must check out its weird UK brother, the Fortean Times. I've been reading this for 4 years now--Thomas carries it in his store and brings it home for me every month. Filled with strange facts and phenomena, Fortean celebrates the strange and occult in the news, zoology and UFOlogy.

This Film is Not Yet Rated I saw this last night. Fascinating! I love documentaries and just watched the Academy Award winning Jesus Camp last weekend. Jesus Camp was really good--but this was flat out awesome.

James Kochalka Another awesome find from Thomas's store. James Kochalka is an indie comic artist turned musician who sings hilarious, hilarious songs that are catchy and fun and sometimes bear only a vague familiarity with the right key, but who cares. My favorite album is Danger Force Five, which is actually not on this website (nor is the awesome Don't Trust Whitey--this seems to be a website of his latest projects). We got his new albums on Wednesday and had a James Kochalka listening party on Friday.

Lisey's Story I've been reading Stephen King since I was 11 years old and while there have been a few missteps in the last 20 years, he is my favorite author. (I had to really consider that statement for a few minutes. There are a lot of authors I could claim as my favorite and a lot of authors that would make me look more literary. But I have loved King and wanted to be like him almost all my life. I read all his books before they go to paperback because I can't wait. Yes, he's my favorite). And in Lisey's Story, he's still got it. I was thrown off by the language initially, but by page 100, it was under my skin.

And that wraps up this week's edition of Things I Love.

3 comments:

Cue said...

ooo, Good to know re: S. King -- I used to love LOVE him, and then sort of bailed on him a few years back. Glad to know there's a reason to put him back on my nightstand again. (Wait, that sounds wrong.)

Gina said...

I've heard about the mental floss site, now I really need to check it out. As if I need another addiction.

Anonymous said...

I second the goodness of Mental Floss.

I like it because it's plucky and funny--but I let it lapse because it just doesn't give me the info. fix I need at regular intervals.

Bi-monthly? C'mon.

:)